Careers - The customer focus is always right

The world is changing fast. And because you work in IT, at the cutting edge of technology, you're changing along with it. Right? Wrong. Any feelings of complacency must be curbed at once. You may be in serious danger of being left behind, because your technology experience carries less weight if it is not allied to strong communication skills. IT is no longer about bytes and bits but about customer satisfaction and business advantage. People with broad business, commercial, management and communication experience are muscling in on the technologists' turf. IT professionals who want to push their careers forward must grow new customer-focused wings. IT has become a customer-driven industry, and it is the business managers who are at the wheel. 'They want to be able to communicate with the IT industry,' says Allan Dornan, group systems engineering manager for Microsoft. 'They are no longer interested merely in how much things will cost but in how the systems can help achieve their goals.' The IT industry is becoming increasingly service-oriented. Customer relationship management (CRM) has prompted awareness of the need for customer focus and allows users to provide this. Outsourcing is also becoming a more significant factor. 'In outsourcing companies, services need to be delivered against service level agreements. Your former colleagues can become your customers, so having good customer-facing skills is becoming more important for technical people,' says Perry Fawcett, sales manager at Bull's outsourcing division, Integris. 'Outsourcing providers must adapt to meet more demanding customer needs.' As a result, these 'soft skills' have moved beyond the realm of wishful thinking and taken on real significance. Dornan has spent 13 years in the IT industry, originally as an IT manager for a large insurance company, and says there has been a huge change in the sort of skills required in the recruiting process. 'When we recruit new employees we look for a blend of technical and communication skills,' he says. 'Unfortunately for many technical people, the communication skills don't come as easily.' Communication is a broad term and it is important to understand exactly what you need to move up the career ladder. 'There is no doubt that the whole industry has shifted into a customer focus and potential employees must demonstrate confidence and ability to deal with both internal and external customers,' says Laura Chard, marketing manager for IT recruitment consultancy Elan Computing. 'The crucial skill set must be drawn from a base of enthusiasm, initiative and commitment, and an open-minded and flexible approach. This is particularly difficult as IT used to be very target - and deadline-driven,' she says. 'From this mindset, communication - a clarity in both written and spoken interaction - will be easier. Your presentation of yourself and your work is key, and must be backed up with confidence.' Doing something you might not naturally be at ease with sounds like a tall order. But help is out there, and you probably already have many of the skills you need without realising it. A good starting point is to make sure you understand your current or potential employer's business, its goals and its customers. Peter Morgan, director of DPA Corporate Communications, believes this is crucial. 'The positioning and values of a company as a whole must be reflected through its IT staff as well as through other staff,' he says. 'Any interface between the customer and the supplier generates an impression of what the company stands for. If this goes wrong, it can subvert all the money and effort put into advertising and branding.' Susan Brooks, managing director of Profiles Resource Management, says: 'If you have no perception of the business needs your application is supporting, then there is a limit to where you can go.' You need to be active and take the initiative. Engage senior managers in conversation, check up on what the competition is doing, scan the Internet for general news on the market and read the business section of your daily newspaper. Above all, you have to be enthusiastic and passionate about your industry, advises Dornan. Once you understand what you are representing when facing a customer, you need to start beefing up the skills that will enable you to communicate this knowledge. 'Obviously, it's not easy to become all these things overnight,' says Chard. 'I would encourage people to look at personal development, presentation and negotiation courses. See what training the company you work for has on offer, and make sure you look beyond just the technical skills courses.' Most organisations offer business, consultancy and communication training, but you may have to look for it outside your own department. Don't be scared of asking your managers. And if your company doesn't agree that you need the training, then it's definitely time to move on and find somewhere that does - 'a company that will help your long-term marketability', suggests Brooks. Les Duncan, managing director of QA Myriad, suggests that simply keeping your eyes and ears open can be useful. 'Learn from the people around you who seem at ease with communication,' he says. 'You can also pick up on the interactions between colleagues and departments.' Darrell Riddell, a product marketing manager with Synstar International, acknowledges the importance of courses, but thinks the basics can be taught on the job. 'Go along to presentations and meetings and ask yourself if you liked it, and why. Did it supply you with the information you needed? If so, why?' he asks. Conveying a confident image through voice projection, body language and eye contact, clear speech without mumbling - especially on the telephone - empathy and listening attentively are important, however basic this may sound. It is also particularly relevant in today's international business environment, points out Dornan. Incomprehensible acronyms and colloquialisms can kill a customer's enthusiasm easily. If you want to move jobs, however, and your present company offers no training or doesn't encourage shadowing of your colleagues and managers, don't despair. To develop customer-facing skills you need people experience, and this can be gained in many other walks of life. This is where your CV comes into its own. It is the tool by which you can clearly and concisely flag up all your relevant experience, particularly the non-work related, and you must use it to the full. 'When writing your CV, pick out the skills that relate to key buzzwords - communication, teamwork and presentation - even if they were not learned on the job,' says Chard. 'Make things jump out and hit the prospective employer. Pick out particular achievements, even if it was organising an extra-curricular team event. But always keep it relevant, to the point, clear and concise.' After all, if you can't do it on your CV, why should anyone think you can do it in your job? Your CV is your chance to convince people you are a communicator, according to Dornan. And again, previous relevant experience in unrelated fields can be exploited in the recruitment process. People who have been involved in delivering ideas or training, be it internally or externally, have an edge, as do people with previous job experience in fields such as teaching and the army,' says Dornan. 'Activities in your extra-curricular life, such as drama, imply communication skills that someone reading your CV would be interested in. Make use of that "other interests" part of the CV; I have yet to see it used to its full potential advantage.' Duncan suggests that you should highlight any public speaking you have done, professionally or otherwise. Even a seemingly unrelated activity, such as chairing a parent/teacher meeting at your children's school, for example, will demonstrate your ability to present ideas with confidence. If you are to put yourself and your relevant achievements in the best possible light, you have to understand them fully. Take some time out to consider what sort of person you really are in a professional environment. 'Think about what you are, and recognise what you enjoy and what you're good at,' Duncan says. And above all, be proactive. It's your career, so you're in the best position to advance it. And it really does not have to be that hard. 'Learning to deal with customers is not a black art,' says Riddell. 'We are all customers in one way or another and we all know what annoys or impresses us. From first impressions to ongoing relationships, a bond of trust must be established - not only trust in the individual, but in the company.' There's little documented evidence to suggest that Microsoft chairman Bill Gates was a huge hit with customers when he started his career as a software developer. What set him apart was his ability to take positive action and his vision. 'Bill Gates was able to project forward to how technology would be used in the future,' says Brooks. 'He applied his understanding of technology and moved it forwards.' Today, software developers need only apply their understanding of the relationship between business and technology, and take it to the customer, to help them up the career ladder. HOW TO MAKE AN IMPRESSION The right mindset is the foundation of good customer-facing skills. Enthusiasm, initiative, commitment and an open-minded and flexible approach will help you achieve clarity in written and spoken interaction. - Understand your company's business, goals and customers; failure to understand the business's needs limits future prospects - Be proactive: engage senior managers in conversation, check out the competition, scan the Internet for general news on the market, read the business section of your daily newspaper. Above all be enthusiastic and passionate - Be alert: learn from the good communicators you find around you; pick up on the interactions between colleagues and departments - Sign up for formal training: attend personal development, presentation and negotiation courses. Voice projection, body language and eye contact, empathy and listening skills are crucial - Train on the job: attend colleagues' or managers' presentations and meetings; ask yourself if you liked it, and why - People experience is vital and can be gained in many ways. Aspects of your extra-curricular life, such as an interest in drama, imply communication skills - Take advantage of public speaking opportunities - it doesn't matter whether it's in a professional capacity or at the local PTA - Think about what you are and recognise what you enjoy and what you are good at.